June 21, 2010

How the 'material support' law promotes terrorism

The French writer Anatole France once noted, "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." If he were around today, he would note that the USA Patriot Act, with perfect even-handedness, makes it a crime to advise foreign terrorist groups on how to advance their ends through violence -- and to advise them on how to pursue their goals peacefully.

That's the meaning of the "material support" provision of the law, which bars Americans from providing help to such groups and which the Supreme Court upheld today. You can't give them money, you can't give them weapons, you can't give them blueprints for making bombs -- and you can't give them pamphlets explaining why slaughtering innocents is immoral and ineffective. Such endeavors count as "expert advice or assistance," which is illegal even if the purpose is to prevent terrorism rather than promote it.

That makes no sense, and it does nothing to foil terrorists. No one should go to jail for counseling militants on lawful alternatives to bloodshed. The Patriot Act should be amended to bar "expert advice or assistance" if the intent is to further unlawful conduct.

That change would allow prosecution of wolves while sparing lambs. As the law stands, they are treated exactly the same.

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Please, foriegn terrorist groups have been calling for the destruction of Isreal for years. More directly, "Wiping Isreal off the face of the earth". I've been reading and watching for years and their goal seems to be the killing of all non-muslim people, especially Jews, which they teach their children are no better than pigs, bringing sharia law to all countries in the world and world dominance. Do you see a way of advancing this goal in a non-violent manner? God help us all.

About this blog

I’m a columnist and editorial writer with strong opinions about a wide range of issues, and this blog lets me address many of them. What readers can find here is an independent, libertarian perspective beholden to no party, candidate or dogma. Whatever your political outlook, I think you’ll find things to agree with—and things to disagree with. About Steve Chapman